


After the Storm

by frubeto



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Episode: s03e13 That Hope Is You Part 2, Gen, Missing Scene, Sylvia Tilly Needs A Hug, Tilly doing some more captaining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 20:54:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28837377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frubeto/pseuds/frubeto
Summary: Missing scene between the rescue of the away team and the return to Starfleet HQ.
Relationships: Joann Owosekun & Sylvia Tilly, Michael Burnham & Sylvia Tilly, Saru & Sylvia Tilly
Comments: 17
Kudos: 42





	After the Storm

“Bridge to sickbay!”

“We’re all here, Commander,” came Doctor Culber’s voice from the intercom, and Tilly couldn’t help the giggle escaping. _They did it!_

“Where is everyone?”

“Safe at HQ,” Michael explained, “Will you be alright?”

And Culber had barely confirmed before Tilly was running over and pulling Michael into a hug, slightly spinning her around and startling a laugh out of her. The rest of the bridge crew was grinning as well, a collective sigh of relief having gone through the room. 

It only faded once Tilly put her down again, and she winced.

“Michael?”

“Got stabbed,” she said, like it wasn’t a big deal, but her hand went down to her leg, the other holding on to Tilly. “I should probably sit down for a minute.”

It should probably be more than a minute, Tilly thought, but settled for now with helping her sink down to the floor in front of the science station, her back leaning against it. 

  
“I’m okay,” Michael waved her off.

The blood starting to seep out of her told a different story.

“No, you’re not,” Tilly said. “We gotta get you to sickbay as well, soon as they’re cleared. Did you just fight an entire ship full of regulators with a hole in your leg?”

Michael only tilted her head and smiled at her in a way she took to mean  _‘hell yeah I did’,_ but before she could think of something to say to that, they were interrupted.

“Captain, we have the Ni’Var fleet incoming.”

Shit .  _Shit,_ were  they still under shoot-first-ask-questions-later orders? She shared a look with Owo, then turned back to Michael, pain now clearly showing on her face.

“You’re still going to sickbay.”

  
“You got this?”

“I just had the third-worst day of my life,” Tilly joked, “I can handle a few more minutes.”

And with that she got back up, and jogged up behind the captain’s chair.

“Bryce, hail Starfleet Headquarters.”

It didn’t take long for Admiral Vance’s face to appear on the screen, and Tilly vaguely noted that under any other conditions she would and _should_ probably be more nervous about having a conversation like this, but right now, she was sheer out of fucks to give.

“This is acting Captain Sylvia Tilly of the USS Discovery,” she started, with all the authority she could muster, “we have the ship back under our control and the away team and the survivor safely aboard-”

She watched Vance disappear from view as he turned in something akin to exasperation, probably already relaying the information.

  
“-and we’ve all around had a pretty rough day, so please don’t fire at us?”

To her left, Rhys tried to hide a smirk with little success. Vance didn’t.

“Ni’Var fleet is retreating,” Owo confirmed.

“Osyraa?” Vance asked.

“Dead.”

“Your crew?”

“Alive.”

Tilly glanced at Michael, looking paler against the bridge floor.

“Slightly bruised.”

Vance nodded. Then shook his head.

“Dammit, Discovery, the Ni’Var fleet reported you exploding inside the Viridian, how the hell did you get out of there?!”

“Found ourselves a new navigator. It’s uh… kind of a long story.”

“Well, I look forward to hearing it,” Vance said, a clear promise of a thorough debriefing in his voice.

Tilly nodded.

“We’ll be jumping back to Headquarters as soon as we can.”

Which would be  _after_ Saru was back on this bridge to officially reclaim command. But no need to phrase it like that. Vance seemed satisfied, after all, and the connection ended. Tilly sighed. 

Right. Next problem. Pushing the button on the chair’s armrest, she went back over to Michael.

“Bridge to sickbay.”

Michael groaned, and Tilly let herself fall down next to her.

“You okay?”

“I’m slowly running out of adrenaline,” she said, then chuckled as if at a joke no one but her understood. Luckily for her, the intercom kept Tilly from questioning her sanity.

“Uh. This is Adira?”

“Hi!” Tilly greeted, leaning back so she was now side-by-side with Michael. “How is everyone?”

“Good. We’re. All good. We’re just waiting for some scans from Su’Kal.”

That must be the surviving Kelpien, then. She couldn’t wait to meet him.

“Great! So, we got Commander Burnham here,” she continued, “she got stabbed, will Doctor Culber be-”

“He says send her down,” Adira interrupted, and Tilly grinned.

  
“Thank you. And tell everyone to join us on the bridge once they’re cleaned up.”

Then she nudged Michael in the ribs.

“That’s your cue to go.”

“Kind of don’t want to move.”

“Well, tough luck. When we get back we’re going to look like a respectable crew, and that means no stabwounds.”

There was something between a snort or a groan coming from her, followed by several uniform zippers being done up around the room that did not go unnoticed, but then,

“Aye, Captain.”

And with a last bit of strength she pulled herself up and ordered herself beamed to medbay.

Once she was gone, it turned quiet on the bridge. Everyone following their own thoughts and processing everything that had happened to them, only the soft hum of the ship filling the air around them.

“We really made it, huh?” someone whispered.

  
“Yeah.”

Tilly sighed. This was going to take more than one night of drinking and crying and playing cards to get over. But at least Michael was still going to be there with her. Possibly even some of the crew. A tear made its way down her cheek. They really had been exceptional today, in the face of all the shit she’d put them into. She sniffed.

“I’m so sorry, guys.”

There was a beat.

“What?”

“Everything,” she explained, and closed her eyes as all the moments flashed through her mind where they could have died back there. Where they almost had died.

“No.”

The decisive tone made her jolt up. Owosekun was coming right at her.

“Get up!”

“What?” 

But before she could repeat herself she had pulled herself to her feet, where she was promptly squeezed in a tight hug. 

She blinked, trying to make sense of the situation, looked around the room in confusion and caught Keyla smiling at her.

“She’s right. Now is not the time for self-deprecation.”

“But-”

Owo started swaying them left and right to shut her up.

“Discovery is like a magnet for the crazy and dangerous shit,” she said. “You and Burnham are the reason we’re all still alive.”

“It was a team effort.”

“It always is,” Rhys chimed in.

  
“And you have nothing to apologize for. You did nothing wrong.”

“...Thank you,” Tilly managed, and when Owosekun made no move to let go of her, put her arms around her too. 

They stayed for a while like that, Owo occasionally picking up the swaying again, until the turbolift doors suddenly opened.

“Captain on the bridge.”  
  


“Oh thank fuck,” Tilly muttered, let go of Owo to wipe away any residual tears while the other reached up to zip her uniform for her, and then turned around to face the new arrivals.

Immediately, the biggest smile grew on her face. There was Saru, elegant as ever, followed closely by Su’Kal, marveling at the sight like they were state-of-the-art, and Doctor Culber, and Adira. 

She was already making her way up to them before she could think, feeling the urge to wrap them all in a group hug, only faltering once she came face-to-face with Saru, old doubts making themselves known. Surely Michael had told him what had happened in his absence while in sickbay. Surely he knew- 

But he returned the smile, and oh.  _Oh._ They were good. She let out a breath.

“Might have put a few scratches on your ship, Captain.”

Saru only tilted his head in amusement, and her tone must have given away how good it felt to be referring to someone else like that for now, because he reached out to lay a hand on her shoulder in what was supposedly an encouraging gesture. 

Well, that wouldn’t do. She quickly stepped forward to give him a hug instead, over before he could complain about it, and then hurried to give Doctor Culber and Adira the same treatment before he had even recovered enough to call for a status report.

Time for them to go home.

**Author's Note:**

> Talk to me on [tumblr](http://frubeto.tumblr.com).


End file.
